Mechanical behavior of entangled metallic wire materials-polyurethane interpenetrating composites

Composite materials exhibit the impressive mechanical properties of high damping and stiffness,which cannot be attained by employing conventional single materials.Along these lines,a novel material architecture is presented in this work in order to fabricate composites with enhanced mechanical characteristics.More specifically,entangled metallic wire materials were used as the active matrix,whereas polyurethane was employed as the reinforcement elements.As a result,an entangled metallic wire material-polyurethane composite with high damping and stiffness was prepared by enforcing the vacuum infiltration method.On top of that,the mechanical properties(loss factor,energy consumption,and average stiffness)of the proposed composite materials were characterized by performing dynamic tests,and its fatigue characteristics were verified by the micro-interface bonding,as well as the macro-damage factor.The impact of the density,preloading spacing,loading amplitude,and exciting frequency on the mechanical properties of the composites were also thoroughly analyzed.The extracted results indicate that the mechanical properties of the composites were significantly enhanced than those of the pure materials due to the introduction of interface friction.Moreover,the average stiffness of the composites was about 10 times the respective value of the entangled metallic wire material.Interestingly,a rise in the loading period leads to some failure between the composite interfaces,which reduces the stiffness property but enhances the damping dissipation properties.Finally,a comprehensive dynamic mechanical model of the composites was established,while it was experimentally verified.The proposed composites possess higher damping features,i.e.,stiffness characteristics,and maintain better fatigue characteristics,which can broaden the application range of the composites.In addition,we provide a theoretical and experimental framework for the research and applications in the field of metal matrix composites.

Synthesis of Composite Materials Based on Borides of Metals and Aluminum Oxide under the Combustion Conditions

The article presents experimental results on obtaining composites based on the systems TiB2-Al2O3,CrB2-Al2O3 and ZrB2-Al2O3 by a method combining SHS(self-propagating high-temperature synthesis)and MA(mechanical activation).Using the thermodynamic calculation program“THERMO”,the adiabatic temperature and the composition of the equilibrium combustion products are calculated.It is shown that the products of exothermic interaction are refractory compounds of metal borides and alumina,which in the ceramic composite form a dispersed phase and a ceramic binder.The effect of duration of the activated mixing on the morphology of the reaction mixture and formation of the microstructure of the ceramic composite was studied.The realization of solid-state SHS is due to the formation of the initial powder mixture of ultradisperse reagent sizes during mechanochemical activation.The SHS products were examined by X-ray diffraction analysis and a scanning electron microscope.High-temperature phases of borides of chromium,titanium,zirconium,aluminum oxide and their spinel are found in SHS products.The purpose of this work is to investigate the influence of regimes for preparing reaction mixtures on formation of the microstructure of a ceramic SHS composite based on titanium,chromium and zirconium borides.

A Single-Layer Piezoelectric Composite Separator for Durable Operation of Li Metal Anode at High Rates

Piezoelectric ceramic and polymeric separators have been proposed to effectively regulate Li deposition and suppress dendrite growth,but such separators still fail to satisfactorily support durable operation of lithium metal batteries owing to the fragile ceramic layer or low-piezoelectricity polymer as employed.Herein,by combining PVDF-HFP and ferroelectric BaTiO_(3),we develop a homogeneous,single-layer composite separator with strong piezoelectric effects to inhibit dendrite growth while maintaining high mechanical strength.As squeezed by local protrusion,the polarized PVDF-HFP/BaTiO_(3)composite separator generates a local voltage to suppress the local-intensified electric field and further deconcentrate regional lithium-ion flux to retard lithium deposition on the protrusion,hence enabling a smoother and more compact lithium deposition morphology than the unpoled composite separator and the pure PVDF-HFP separator,especially at high rates.Remarkably,the homogeneous incorporation of BaTiO_(3)highly improves the piezoelectric performances of the separator with residual polarization of 0.086 pC cm^(-2)after polarization treatment,four times that of the pure PVDF-HFP separator,and simultaneously increases the transference number of lithium-ion from 0.45 to 0.57.Beneficial from the prominent piezoelectric mechanism,the polarized PVDF-HFP/BaTiO_(3)composite separator enables stable cyclic performances of Li||LiFePO_(4)cells for 400 cycles at 2 C(1 C=170 mA g^(-1))with a capacity retention above 99%,and for 600 cycles at 5 C with a capacity retention over 85%.

PROCESSINGTECHNIQUESANDCHARACTERIZATIONOFCERAMICFIBERREINFORCEDALUMINIUMCOMPOSITES

This paper relates to the fabrication of aluminium matrix composites with various amounts of Al 2O 3 fiber and SiC whiskers by rheocasting, powder metallurgy process and liquid metal infiltration process. To analyze wetting characteristics, the cross sections of composites are examined by scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The bending tests and microhardness tests are performed to evaluate mechanical properties of composites. The results show that the composites produced by liquid metal infiltration give better properties than those produced by rheocasting or powder metallurgy process, primarily due to the decrease of porosity and reinforcement cluster. For liquid metal infiltration composites, a good adhesion between the fiber and matrix is found. Three points bending test results show that there is an increase in flexural modulus with reinforcement contents. In addition, a series of microhardness tests are conducted to determine the effect of heat treatment on the mechanical property of Al 2O 3/Al composites.

Damping capacity of BaTiO_3/Al composites fabricated by hot extrusion

To develop new type of high damping metal matrix composites, large grain size barium titanate （BaTiO3） ceramic was sintered and added into Al powder to fabricate BaTiO3/Al composites through the powder metallurgy method and hot extrusion. The damping properties of BaTiO3 ceramic, Al matrix and BaTiO3/Al composites were examined by dynamic mechanical analysis in the temperature range from 273 K to 573 K. The results show that although BaTiO3 exhibits high damping （tan δ=0.12） below 400 K, the damping capacity of 10%BaTiO3/Al （mass fraction） composites below 400 K is not increased as compared to the Al matrix. On the other hand, the damping capacity above 450 K is greatly enhanced due to the motion of dislocations at the interfaces between ceramic particles and Al matrix. The failure of exerting the intrinsic damping of BaTiO3 particles in the composites is attributed to the poor interface bonding between the particles and the matrix. The tensile strength of the composite is 42% higher than that of the Al matrix, which indicates the possibility of obtaining high strength and high damping composites via interface improvement and the addition of high volume fraction of large grain BaTiO3 particles.

Materials and Process Aspects of Selective Laser Melting of Metals and Metal Matrix Composites: A Review(Invited Paper)

Selective laser melting(SLM) is currently the subject of major research studies with the objective to directly manufacture high performance metal alloys and metal matrix composite(MMC) parts by consolidating metal and its composite powders.The successful fabrication of the parts by SLM is related with proper selection of materials and processing parameters to provide sufficient densification and consolidation of the powder materials and generate suitable microstructures and mechanical properties.It is also important to minimize or eliminate typical issues such as porosity,balling effect,and thermal stress associated with the powder melting and consolidation at high temperature conditions during SLM process.This paper presents the fundamental material and process aspects,address the technical issues,and review the recent research development in the SLM of metal and MMCs.

Preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced TiNi matrix composites from elemental powders by spark plasma sintering

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced TiNi matrix composites were synthesized by spark plasma sintering (SPS) employing elemental powders.The phase structure,morphology and transformation behaviors were studied.It was found that thermoelastic martensitic transformation be-haviors could be observed from the samples sintered above 800 ℃ even with a short sintering time (5min),and the transformation tempera-tures gradually increased with increasing sintering temperature because of more Ti-rich TiNi phase formation.Although decreasing the sin-tering temperature and time to 700 ℃ and 5min could not protect defective MWCNTs from reacting with Ti,still-perfect MWCNTs re-mained in the specimens sintered at 900 ℃.This method is expected to supply a basis for preparing CNT-reinforced TiNi composites.

Mechanical properties of anti-seepage grouting materials for heavy metal contaminated soil

Cement-based composite grouting materials were used to construct grouting cutoff wall for heavy metal contaminated soil in non-ferrous metal mining areas. Cement, fly ash, and slag as principal ingredients were mixed with water glass in different ways to produce three composite grouting materials. In order to investigate the effect of water glass mixing ratio, Baume degree, fly ash and slag contents on the mechanical properties of the composite grouting materials, particularly their gel time and compressive strength, the beaker-to-beaker method of gel time test and unconfined compressive strength test were conducted. In addition, the phase composition and microstructure of the composite grouting materials were analyzed by the X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscope（SEM） techniques. The test results show that their gel time increases when water glass mixing ratio and Baume degree increase. The gel time increases dramatically when fly ash is added, but decreases slightly if fly ash is partly replaced by slag. When the mixing ratio of water glass is below 20%, their compressive strength increases with the increases of the ratio; when the ratio is above 20%, it significantly decreases. The compressive strength also tends to increase as Baume degree increases, and improves if fly ash and slag are added.

Effect of Nb on the corrosion behavior of continuous bulk metallic glass-coated steel wire composites

（Zr41.2Ti13.sCu12.sNi10Be22.5）100-~Nb~ （at%, x=0 and 8） bulk metallic glasses （BMGs） were coated on the surface of Q195 steel wires by a continuous coating process. The potentiodynamic polarization tests of these BMGs were conducted in 3.5wt% NaC1 aqueous solution. It is found that the addition of 8at% Nb into Zr41.2Ti13.sCu12.sNi10Be22.5 alloy results in the improvement of corrosion resistance with the pitting potential of -52 mV, the open circuit potential of-446 mV, and the corrosion current density of 9.86x 10-6 mA/cm2. This may be attributed to that Nb is beneficial to passivate and stabilize Zr and Ti.

Coating thickness control in continuously fabricating metallic glass-coated composite wires

A continuous production process was developed for coating bulk metallic glasses on the metallic wire surface. The effects of processing parameters, including the drawing velocity and coating temperature, on the coating thickness were investigated. It is found that the coating thickness increases with the increase in drawing velocity but decreases with the increase in coating temperature. A fluid mechanical model was developed to quantify the coating thickness under various processing conditions. By using this theoretical model, the coating thickness was calculated, and the calculated values are in good agreement with the experimental data.

Statistical Analyses of the Strengths of Particulate Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites(PRMMCs)Subjected to Multiple Tensile and Shear Stresses

For design and application of particulate reinforced metal matrix composites(PRMMCs),it is essential to predict the material strengths and understand how do they relate to constituents and microstructural features.To this end,a computational approach consists of the direct methods,homogenization,and statistical analyses is introduced in our previous studies.Since failure of PRMMC materials are often caused by time-varied combinations of tensile and shear stresses,the established approach is extended in the present work to take into account of these situations.In this paper,ultimate strengths and endurance limits of an exemplary PRMMC material,WC-Co,are predicted under three independently varied tensile and shear stresses.In order to cover the entire load space with least amount of weight factors,a new method for generating optimally distributed weight factors in an n dimensional space is formulated.Employing weight factors determined by this algorithm,direct method calculations were performed on many statistically equivalent representative volume elements(SERVE)samples.Through analyzing statistical characteristics associated with results the study suggests a simplified approach to estimate the material strength under superposed stresses without solving the difficult high dimensional shakedown problem.

Mechanical Behaviors of ZrO_2-Al_2O_3 Ceramic Composites with Y_2O_3 as Stabilizer

The ZrO2-Al2O3 ceramic composites were prepared by appropriate techniques with commercial ZrO2 and Al2O3 powders as raw materials and Y2O3 as stabilizer. The results indicate that with the introduction of Al2O3 into the ZrO2 matrix where the quantity of additive Y2O3 is 3.5% (mole fraction), the growth of ZrO2 grains is efficiently inhibited, which helps the ZrO2 grains exist in a metastable tetragonal manner; thus higher strength and toughness are acquired. When the content of alumina is 20% (mass fraction), the bending strength and fracture toughness of the composites are 676.7 MPa and 10 MPa·m1/2 respectively, the mechanical behaviors are close to those prepared with ZrO2 and Al2O3 powders synthesized through wet chemical approach. The mechanical behaviors of the composites are well improved owing to the dispersion toughening of alumina grains and phase transformation toughening of zirconia grains.

Tensile and compressive behavior of Ti-based bulk metallic glass composites

This article focuses on the tensile and compressive characteristics of a Ti-based bulk metallic glass composite （BMGC）. It is found that the yield stress, maximum strength, and fracture strain are 1380 MPa, 1516 MPa, and 4.3% for uniaxial tension, but 1580 MPa, 4010 MPa, and 29% for uniaxial compression, respectively. The composite displays a linear ＂work hardening＂ capacity under compression; however, the ＂work softening＂ behavior is observed in the true engineering stress-strain curve upon tensile loading. The fracture surfaces of specimens also exhibit dissimilar properties under the different loadings.

Damping Property of a New Type of PMCs Composite

The advanced composite PMCs (polymer metal composite) consists of polymer and honeycombed aluminium. It has higher and excellent damping capacity. The internal friction is independent of the frequency but increases with the increase of vibrating amplitud

Dendritic and spherical crystal reinforced metallic glass matrix composites

Zr-based bulk metallic glass matrix composites （BMGMCs） with a composition of Zr60.0Ti14.7Nb5.3Cu5.6Ni4.4- Be10.0 （at%） were fabricated by an innovative process, i.e., semisolid processing plus Bridgman solidification. Different morphologies, distributions, and volume fractions of the crystalline phases can be achieved by tailoring the withdrawal velocity. The largest fi-acture strain of Zr60.0Ti14.7Nb5.3Cu5.6Ni4.4Be10.0 （at%） composites with the withdrawal velocity of 1.0 mm/s was found to be 16.7%. The mechanism of plasticity improvement is mainly attributed to the interpenetrated structure of the crystalline phase, which greatly confines the rapid propagation of shear bands.

Phase Structure and Electrochemical Properties of RE-Mg Based Composite Hydrogen Storage Alloys

A new type of AB_5-x%LaMg_3(x=2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)composite hydrogen storage alloys were prepared by sintering the powder mixtures of a commercial AB_5 alloy and LaMg_3 alloy. The phase structure and electrochemical characteristics of the composite hydrogen storage alloys were also studied. It is shown that AB_(5)-x%LaMg_3(x=2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)composites have mult; phase structure. The matrix phase has CaCu_5 structure, the second phase is LaNi_3 phase. The maximum discharge capacity, discharge capacity at low temperature and HRD of AB_5 alloy electrodes are greatly improved after the composite. The maximum discharge capacity of the composite electrodes increases from 325 mAh·g^(-1) for x=0 to 358 mAh·g^(-1) for x=5, and the HRD of the composites for x=5 at the current density of 1200 mA·g^(-1)30% of that of the alloy at 60 mA·g^(-1). The discharge capacity of AB_5-x%LaMg_3 composite alloy electrode at 233 K is up to 174 mAh·g^(-1). The improvement of the electrochemical characteristics of the composite electrodes seems to be related with formation of the LaNi_3 second phase.

Effect of Zr on Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystalline (Nd, Pr)FeB/α-Fe Composite Alloys

For nanophase (Nd, Pr)FeB/α-Fe composite alloys were prepared by melt spinning, the appreciable addition of Zr reduces their average grain size. Observed by atom force microscopy (AFM), the average grain diameter of crystallized ribbons on their free surface, reduces from 175 nm of Zr-free alloy to 79 nm of Zr-1at%, by about 55%. If the concentration exceeds 1%, the effects of Zr on fining grain size are evidently weakened. The average grain size on free surface of Zr-1.5at% is 72 nm. With the addition of 1at% Zn, the bonded magnets has the best combination of properties: B_r=0.675 T, H_(ci)=616 kA·m^(-1), (BH)_(max)=77 kJ·m^(-3). Below 1at%, the coarser grains lead to a lower magnetic property. Beyond 1at%, the layer of Zr-rich intergranular phase will thicken, which results in weakening of the exchange coupling among adjacent grains, and then causes degrading of magnetic properties of magnets.

Hot compressive deformation behavior of an in-situ TiB whisker reinforced Ti matrix composite

An in-situ TiB whisker reinforced Ti matrix (TiBw/Ti) composite is fabricated by powder metallurgy technique followed by hot extrusion. Hot compressive deformation behavior of the composite, in which the TiB whiskers were oriented along the extruded direction, is investigated. The results indicate that the hot compressive resistance of the TiBw/Ti composite is higher than that of the unreinforced Ti, and hot compressive resistance of the composite in the direction parallel to the whisker orientation is higher than that in the direction perpendicular to the whisker orientation. The hot compressive resistance of the composite increases with increasing strain rate and decreasing temperature. With increasing test temperature, the rate of the decrement of the compressive flow stress of the composite is higher than that of the unreinforced Ti. With increasing amount of compressive deformation, more and more TiB whiskers rotate and break during deformation. The rotation of the whiskers is easier at higher temperature, while, at lower temperature it becomes more difficult and whisker breakage becomes much more serious.

Magnetic and Magnetoresistance Properties in (La_(0.67)Ca_(0.33)MnO_3)_x / (ZrO_2 )_(1-x) Composite System

La_(0.67)Ca_(0.33)MnO_3)_x /(ZrO_2)_(1-x) (x is the volume fraction ratio) percolated composites were fabricated by combining La_(0.67)Ca_(0.33)MnO_3 (LCMO) powders with ZrO_2 particles, where LCMO powders were prepared by sol-gel process. Low field magnetoresistance ( LFMR ) is greatly enhanced at low temperature when the system is close to the metallic percolation threshold of x=0.4. The magnetoresistance ratio of ( LCMO)_(0.4) /( ZrO_2 )_(0.6) in a 10 mT magnetic field at 77 K is 7.8 %, about 7.12 times larger than that of pure LCMO compound. The enhancement of spin-dependent tunneling of electrons at the interfaces between LCMO and ZrO_2 grains is responsible for the enhanced LFMR. With increasing ZrO_2 addition, Curie temperature T_C decreases firstly and then remains constant at about 220 K when (x<60%), showing limited substitution effect of Zr ions on B sites.

Role of Composite Phase Change Material on the Thermal Performance of a Latent Heat Storage System: Experimental Investigation

Paraffin wax is a perfect phase change material(PCM)that can be used in latent heat storage units(LHSUs).The utilization of such LHSU is restricted by the poor conductivity of PCM.In the present work,a metal foam made of aluminium with PCM was used to produce a composite PCM as a thermal conductivity technique in PCM⁃LHSU and water was used as heat transfer fluid(HTF).An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of LHSU using pure PCM and composite PCM.The study included time⁃dependent visualization of the PCM during the melting and solidification processes.Besides,a thermocouple network was placed inside the heat storage to record the temperature profile during each process.Results showed that better performance could be obtained using composite PCM⁃LHSU for both melting and solidification processes.The melting time of composite PCM⁃LHSU was about 83%faster than that of a simple PCM⁃LHSU,and the percentage decreasing in the solidification time was about 85%due to the provision of metal foam.